It’s all about growing, evolving, progressing. As comedian Carlos Mencia — late of the series “Mind of Mencia” and veteran of over 25 years on the stand-up comedy circuit — prepares to take the stage at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg for a four-night gig beginning July 24, he said that what drives his comedy is a desire to never rest on his laurels.

Carlos Mencia, photo courtesy of Carlos Mencia

“I mean, it’s like anything else. You got to grow, or you remain stagnant. And in comedy, stagnant just means bad and boring,” Mencia said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. “It’s nothing that I can do. For me, it’s really simple. For me it’s keep living, keep having fire about life, and everything else comes. As long as I’m able to get really happy, or really agitated, or really bothered by seemingly mundane things, I can be funny.”

There always has to be a goal, though. For Mencia, right now the goal is assembling material for a new stand-up special he is working on. He noted that the show is coming together, and audience members who see his gig at Fat Fish Blue will get a big sample of what the special will consist of. “Right now, the stuff that I’m working on is going to be pretty much 80% of what the special’s going to be,” he noted.

Through years of success, controversy, triumph and pain, Mencia has never wavered in his view of what comedy can be. The comic may have overseen a shift in what his act consists of and his own stage persona over time, but Mencia remains philosophical about what the function of the comedian means to the audience who sees one.

“For me, it’s more about moments — moments in time. What I see right now is, in essence, a bunch of people telling us that, basically, we have to be perfect. And to think bad thoughts, or to feel bad things, or what other people think are bad. And you’re not supposed to do that. And I just think that we’re human beings. And the internet shouldn’t be the only place that people go to have refuge.

“Comedy should be, and has been, that refuge for a really, really long time. It’s where Richard Pryor went to talk about the realities of life. It’s where George Carlin went. It’s where Cosby went. Whatever the truth is, it seems like comedy — within the past 40 years or so — is the place where people come to get that. Because we’re the ones that can truly talk about the things that happen in the world.”

Mencia’s perspective is certainly colored by his life experiences. Born in Honduras in 1967, the young budding comic was raised an immigrant in East Los Angeles, staying out of trouble under the watchful eye of his aunt and uncle. He said that growing up in such environs has given him a particular perspective on the American dream — but that hasn’t gotten in the way of relating to the crowds who he performs for every night.

“I see myself as an American, but I know that I’m an immigrant. I know I wasn’t born here, but my perspective has never, ever, ever been, ‘Those are not my people,’” Mencia said, referring to his audience. “I have performed in front of every type of crowd, and never, ever have I thought, ‘This isn’t my audience.’”

Certainly Mencia’s experience in media gives him a leg up on interacting with his audiences. His Comedy Central series Mind of Mencia ran for three seasons, putting him in America’s homes for over three years. Add in his numerous CDs and stand-up specials, and Carlos has an automatic rapport with comedy club crowds.

“It’s like — I go onstage, and I get this feeling of love and happiness. Because audiences are there to laugh. They’re all ready to laugh, they’ve put so much aside, they’ve already met me — we’re beyond halfway there.”

Still, Mencia noted, no matter what fans may be prepared for when they come out to see him, he hopes to give them more. Not only in terms of exceeding their expectations, but also in using comedy’s natural ability in bringing people a new perspective on life.

“The difference in comedy is, most of the time, we don’t pick sides. We make fun of both sides, or whatever side, but when people come to see us, they’re not necessarily in that place. I think that they’re laughing, their hearts are open, their minds are open, and we just see the world from a curious perspective. And I think if we do anything, we just make people go, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t think of it that way before.’”

Carlos Mencia will be performing at the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg from July 24 through July 27.

April 28 event to raise money for scholarship in memory of local teen

Michael Anthony Gbur, “Mikey,” was an “easygoing and fun loving eighth grade student at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School.” He was the son of Charles and Carolyn Gbur, both practicing cardiologists in Toledo. At 14 years old, Mikey was scheduled to attend St. John’s Jesuit High School, where he was excited play baseball as a freshman. Mikey took his own life on March 27, 2012. MAGnificent Memories will host the second annual celebrity wait night at Fat Fish Blue in Levis Commons in Perrysburg on April 28 to raise funds for a memorial scholarship that has been created in his memory.

Michael Anthony Gbur. Via magnificentmemories.org

“This fundraiser is a chance to get together and remember his life,” said event organizer and friend of the Gbur family Samantha Bolbach. “He was a accomplished video gamer, a scuba diver, he loved being outdoors and doing anything on the water. He also enjoyed traveling with his family. With this scholarship we look for one eighth grade boy from Our Lady of Perpetual Help School who has Mikey’s character and his sense of exploration.”

Last year MAGnificent Memories gave awards to three students who were “graduating” from Our Lady of Perpetual Help and preparing to attend high school at St. John’s Jesuit: Benjamin Bruff, Danny Steinbeck and Zach Koszychi. “Last year’s fundraiser was a great success and the family received a lot of support,” said Bolbach.

The celebrity wait night at Fat Fish Blue will feature notable figures from the Toledo business and medical community serving attendees, with their tips going to the scholarship fund. Some of the celebrity wait staff includes: Drs. Daniel Cassavar and JoDee Ahrens, Josh Wagy of SmashToledo, Gary Miller of MedTronic, Rachel Matthews of Rachel Michael Gourmet Popcorn, and Sue Meadows of Caper’s Pizza Bar.

The evening will feature dinner consisting of pulled pork, catfish and veggie fettucini and the live performance of a standup comedian (TBA). There will be a silent auction beginning at 5pm through the end of dinner during which sign Walleye memorabilia, signed memorabilia from Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and OSU graduate Dane Sanzenbacher, wine from Napa Valley, and a spa package from Ada Aesthetics are up for grabs. Tickets are $30 in advance.

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As the sitcom and voiceover star prepares to return to Toledo for a gig at the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue on March 21, he noted in an interview with Toledo Free Press that he feels a natural rapport with fans from the Glass City and nearby areas.

“I’m from Michigan, and so I know that audience really well. I think they know my style of humor pretty well, so I think we have a pretty good synergy between us,” Coulier said.

A native of St. Clair Shores, the 54-year-old Coulier rose to national prominence through his role as Joey on the long-running ABC sitcom “Full House” and as host of the variety show “America’s Funniest People” in the early 1990s. But stand-up is where he started and stand-up is still where his passion lies all these years later.

“If you can compare stand-up to being an actor, I get to write the script,” Coulier said. “Whereas being an actor, I’m delivering somebody else’s jokes. And you’re talking directly to the fourth wall when you’re a stand-up, and in acting you can’t do that. You have to stay within the guidelines of the scene; you keep the information moving within the story.

“With stand-up, you can come off the rails, you can veer left, you can veer right, you can back up, you can go to somebody in the audience, if something happened spontaneously, you can focus on that. So there’s a lot of different directions that you have as a stand-up that you don’t just have as an actor.”

Coulier first had an inkling that he’d be interested in comedy at a young age, he said.

“I had been doing stand-up in high school, and I was always the funny guy in the locker room growing up, playing hockey. You know, you have a built-in audience of 20 guys, sitting around putting their equipment on, so I would tell jokes. It was a great captive audience.

“It’s really interesting because — I don’t want to get too heady here — but where my psychological headspace was, when I was first thinking that I was funny, to now? It’s two completely different thought spaces,” Coulier said. “When I was first starting out, I had confidence just because I didn’t know any better. I just thought, ‘Hey, I’m funny! Everybody thinks I’m funny, so I’m just going to get on stage and be funny!’ So there was a certain naiveté that I had — call it confidence or whatever it was — I was very sure of myself, just because I’d been goofing around with people my entire life.”

Of course, anyone who has watched Coulier perform knows his stock and trade is his amazing talent for mimicry and impersonation — his stable of imitations reads like a who’s-who of modern pop culture history. How early in his stand-up experience did the voices become his M.O.?

“That was my only M.O.,” Coulier said with a laugh. “It was what set me apart from other comedians, the ability to be able to do voices and do sound effects with my mouth and be musical.

“With my style, I’ve always thought of myself as a glorified birthday clown. And in my head, that’s my operating system. I’m like, OK, I’m not up there to be heady, I’m not up there to be politically savvy, I’m not up there to lampoon current events. My job is to go up there and make people forget that maybe they lost their job or that times are really tough. And just go up, let’s have a lot of laughs and have fun for an hour.”

And as he continues to travel the country bringing that sense of fun to audiences, he noted how far he has come — from making a few guys laugh in the locker room to accomplishing more than his wildest dreams could have foreseen.

“I also didn’t know what the odds were stacked against me. I never thought about that, I never thought, ‘Gee, no one goes from St. Clair Shores, Mich., goes out and gets on a sitcom.’ I never thought about that. That was never in my thought process. My thought process was, ‘Just go and enjoy the heck out of this, the further you get is all gravy.’

“And everything I wished for came true. I wanted to do ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson. I wanted to work with Mel Blanc and do cartoon voices. I wanted to work with Jim Henson. I wanted to host a series. I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be in movies, I wanted to star in a sitcom. I wanted to do all of these different things, and so I wished for the sky. And so, my wish list came true. I’ve just been so doggone lucky that everything came true. And so then, I reached a point that, I have to build a whole new wish list.”

Coulier will play the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue from March 21-23 at Levis Commons in Perrysburg. For more information, contact Fat Fish Blue at (419) 931-3474.

Former wrestler Foley finds way in comedy, returns to Fat Fish Blue

Mick Foley is no stranger to Toledo audiences, from his years performing with WWE — where the old Sports Arena was a regular stop for the crew — to an appearance as part of the Toledo Public Library’s “Author! Author!” series. His latest appearances, though, have been in somewhat unexpected environs — The Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue, where the former wrestler and multiple-time bestselling author has made stops as part of his “Tales from Wrestling Past” comedy tour.

Mick Foley will perform Jan. 23 at The Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue.

Foley’s next appearance at Fat Fish Blue will be on at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23. So, how does it feel when a whole audience is right there with Foley, in the palm of his hand, laughing in unison at his hilarious stories?

“The flip side is, how does it feel when things aren’t going well? It’s peaks and valleys. It’s like the old ABC ‘Wide World of Sports’ — thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,” Foley said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star.

“And yeah, you can go from feeling on top of the world, like I did last night — may have been my best show to date. And then you show up in Erie, Pa., and you think a guy is doing a spit-take because you said something funny, and it turns out he projectile vomited on the woman in front of him. The entire show took on a sense of gloom.”

Foley’s first few years navigating the world of comedy have been full of those kinds of ups and downs — not always filled with such extreme gross-outs, of course, but still a struggle. Foley admits it’s taken a while to find his groove with audiences.

“The truth is, up until the last year or so, it was like banging my head against the wall, because I knew I could draw bigger crowds with just a simple Q&A. It was almost like the idea of a show was deterring people. And it was really just in the last year and a half where word is getting around, and now the show itself is becoming an attraction, instead of just the guy doing it.”

Indeed, as word of mouth has spread on the quality of Foley’s sets, he’s found himself performing in front of larger and more enthusiastic audiences — and not just among wrestling fans.

“Generally speaking, they’re very prone to liking me. I have them, I just have to be good to keep them, in most cases. The people I win over [are], generally, the significant others — the spouses or girlfriends who show up in a dramatic display of love and dedication, and end up having a really good time.

“And it’s funny, because I see the look. And it’s really rewarding, because at the 10-minute mark, they realize they’re actually having a very good time. And they see that they see that the stories from the world of wrestling actually translate to the real world, because there are colorful stories about unique people, who just happen to be wrestlers.”

During his years as a wrestler, one of Foley’s trademarks was his willingness to do anything to make a match or show better — up to and including being thrown off a 15-foot-high cage and other feats of daring-do. Oddly, that dedication to doing the unique and untested was a bit of a deterrent in his new pursuit, Foley said.

“I think one of the toughest things for me was to accept that you’re not only not cheating the audience by working on a specific set, that you actually owe it to the audience to give them the best set you can,” he explained. “And that does include shifting new material in, but that does not mean that you have to come up with an entirely different set for every audience. I used to think that was the sign of a talented performer, and I guess in a way it [is], if you accept that no one is ever going to see a really good show, because every single story is a work in progress.”

As Foley has refined his set over the past few years into a consistently entertaining and successful act, he has begun to reap the rewards his hard work has sewn in terms of larger and more enthusiastic audiences. He expressed hope to record the show sometime in the coming year, either for home video release or for broadcast on WWE’s new online network. And Foley noted that he feels the same fulfillment from making a small crowd laugh as he did from making a large crowd gasp and cheer.

“I take as much pride for a job well done in front of 200 as I would for a job well done in front of 20,000. They’re coming around, and it’s really rewarding. The only downside is, I have to call up people I’ve known for years and say, ‘I’m sorry, we’re out of tickets. We have none!’”

For a guy who works in Hollywood, it seems like it might be a bit of a shock to the system to be playing the Toledo area right as some of the most bitterly cold days of the year begin. But for comedian Paul Mecurio — who will appear at the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg from Thursday, December 12 through Saturday, December 14 — such cold temperatures are nothing new.

“I grew up in Rhode Island, in New England, so I’m used to the cold,” Mecurio said in a radio interview for ‘Eye on Your Weekend.’ “Very Italian family that I grew up with in Rhode Island. You know, you think Italian, you think of one of two stereotypes — you think of the plastic on the furniture, very neat house, and the picture of the Pope, Jesus and Frank Sinatra. That part is not true in my family, because my mother — still — has a furniture store, and that was always the focus of our lives. So the house was a pig sty growing up.

“This is a true story, this is how bad our house was — someone broke into the house, they took the stereo, didn’t touch another thing in the house. A cop comes over to take a police report, stands in the middle of the living room, surveys the living room, and goes, ‘Oh my God. What kind of an animal would make a mess like this?’”

The other Italian stereotype Mecurio refers to — that of Mafia connections — is, he insists, absolutely true. At least where his cousin Bobby is concerned. “He sells stuff out of the trunk of his car, like ratchets, seats, and — I’m not making this up — he sells car alarms. Car alarms he stole out of other people’s cars.”

It’s these kinds of stories that have endeared Mecurio to fans of his stand-up career. Comedy was not his first career path, though — he has a law degree from Georgetown and worked as a banking and acquisitions lawyer before striking out on a new path.

“I was doing corporate law, mergers and acquisitions in New York. And I thought, ‘How can I give my mother an instant heart attack? I know — I’ll tell her I want to be a comedian!’” Mecurio said.

“I was doing law, and I began to write jokes as a hobby, and I was sort of living this secret double life. And people say to me, ‘Did you know you wanted to be a comedian?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, no.’ And they were like, ‘Were you funny?’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah, I was always the funniest lawyer in my law firm.’ Which is kinda like being the sexiest I.T. guy.

“I’d say these really wacky things to get laughs from the other lawyers. Things like, ‘We can’t do that, that’s unethical!’ And they would laugh and laugh and laugh.”

His “double life” began to become more taxing — he was sneaking out during dinner breaks at his law job to play open-mike nights at local clubs in NYC — until he got a job writing for Jay Leno, and then eventually, was invited to join the writing staff of the then-brand new “The Daily Show” in 1996. His work on that show has earned him both an Emmy and a Peabody award.

“It’s been fun. You get to really push the envelope. When Monica Lewinsky was rehabilitating her image after the whole Lewinsky scandal, she did this spread for Vanity Fair. And I got so incensed that she was making over her image, and we were allowing it. And she was selling handbags, I don’t know if you remember that, she had this handbag line.

“And so we said, ‘Oh, that’s not the only thing she’s doing, she’s getting product endorsements — like this one!’ And I’ll put this delicately — we had a picture of her face and put ‘stuff’ on it. A particular type of liquid, if you will. And on the bottom it said, ‘Got milk’ with a question mark.

“And we put that into the show, and we didn’t tell anybody ’till the last minute we were doing it. And the President saw it and flipped out,” Mecurio said. “They never re-aired the show after that.”

And while Mecurio’s expertise at comedy is more than enough to guarantee that fans who come out to Fat Fish Blue a great time — he also has a secret weapon.

“I like to be in the bitter cold, because I want to force people to be inside any way I can,” he said. “I trap people indoors and then they have no choice but to come to a comedy show and see me and the lovely comedy I do.”

Comedian Lavell Crawford appearing at Fat Fish Blue

Comedian Lavell Crawford is a distinctive figure in the world of stand-up comedy. A very large figure, to be sure — but Crawford argues that his size gives him certain advantages when it comes to relating to his audience.

“I think being a big guy, I give them a comfort zone,” Crawford said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star.

“They see you being a big guy, and you’re happy with yourself. Because everyone has insecurities. I don’t care if I’m the best-looking guy to the most beautiful woman in the world — [there’s] something she don’t like about herself. So when I’m up there, it seems like I take away their fears, I take away my fears, you know? Because I got a high esteem of myself. I don’t care what America thinks about me, I think I’m beautiful.”

The self-confident Crawford will bring his big frame and even bigger heart and sense of humor to the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg for a three-night stint beginning March 28.

“I love it,” Crawford said of stand-up. “It’s almost like it’s my therapy. Some person who’s not good at it, it could probably be a trial by fire, a living hell burning up in your butthole or something. For me, it’s like heaven, you know. I’m in control of my own destiny. Nobody can stop me.

“You just share with some people, and I feel like I’m healing people, because they’re laughing, released from their worries for a while. It’s a great feeling, man. Once I got good at it, I couldn’t see myself doing nothing else.”

It took some effort for the 44-year-old comic to break into the business that has become his passion. He knew he had a knack for making people laugh, cracking up his then-girlfriend with impressions of fellow parishioners at his church and sharing funny stories about his life. But she wasn’t exactly supportive of his hope to turn his abilities into a career.

“She told me not to try it. She thought I would do bad — she wanted to see me crash and burn, you know?” Crawford said. “I kept calling the Funny Bone in St. Louis, where I’m from. I called and called and called and called, and I finally got a call back. They put my name on the list, finally.

“When I went up, I just asked God — I said, ‘God, if I get one laugh, I’m making a career’.”

He got a lot more than one laugh that first night, and many more in the 23 years that have passed since. And as his delivery and material crystalized into what it is today, Crawford said he gained a greater grasp of his ability to control how an audience reacts to him.

“I’ve grown so much where, now, I can have faith; where now, it’s like a natural muscle now, you know. No matter what happens in the audience, I have complete control over my mind, and I have complete control over myself on the stage, and the audience. I don’t get afraid,” Crawford said.

Crawford has seen his star rise rapidly in recent years, with stints on BET and Comedy Central to his credit, but he cites his gig on NBC’s reality competition “Last Comic Standing” as being crucial to breaking through to a larger audience.

“‘Last Comic Standing’ was a wonderful, wonderful experience,” Crawford said. “What it did was, it opened the doors in the mainstream. Like, before, I was known in the urban market, but you know I went from the level of an excerpt in the mainstream comedy world to an exclamation point. What I did was get into the homes of families who might not have ever heard of me if it wasn’t for ‘Last Comic Standing.’ It was a lot of fun.”

And while his increasing visibility as a comic has opened doors for Crawford as an actor — with roles on “Breaking Bad,” “Workaholics” and an upcoming appearance on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on his résume — he said that his first love will always be the biggest part of who he is.

“I’m hoping to get into some big hit movies, and also doing a couple of movies that I’ve written, doing my own sitcom — but stand-up will always be the foundation.

Comedian Jim Norton prepares for delayed Glass City debut

When Jim Norton takes the stage at Fat Fish Blue on March 14, it will be his first performance in the Toledo area. Not for a lack of trying, however.

The New Jersey native was originally scheduled for an engagement at Fat Fish in February 2012, which had to be canceled at the last minute.

“I think because it was too close to Cleveland before I shot ‘Please Be Offended,’” Norton said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star in reference to his 2012 stand-up special. “So I think that was why Toledo got canceled.”

Jim Norton

Still, Norton isn’t worried about facing Glass City crowds for the first time during his three night gig at Fat Fish. He has a great connection to Ohio audiences, he said.

“I think they’ll be the same as Cleveland or the same as Columbus, you know,” Norton said. “I’m not really that worried about it. I do very well with those crowds. Cleveland is a very good market for me.”

Of course, even with the most positive of crowds, Norton’s brash, confrontational style can be off-putting for some members of his audience. Norton said he can deal with crowds however they react to him.

“My job is to entertain them, and I want them to laugh and have a good time. But they can be adversaries — or, sometimes, just a couple of them are, to be very honest with you. But my job is to entertain them, so I really do want them to have a good time. I mean, I always do. But if they become adversaries, then I’m comfortable with that, too.”

He didn’t always have such a thick skin when it came to the hecklers of the world. Indeed, in his early days, Norton’s onstage persona was far more restrained.

“When you first start, you really, really do want to be liked. And you do want people to approve of you and all that stuff. But the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with them not agreeing with you. You know, I’m used to the audience not agreeing with me. But I always want them to have a good time.”

Today, Norton is far more polished and self-assured in stand-up, and far more willing to take his comedy to extremes he wouldn’t have considered in his early days. He says his onstage persona is not too far removed from who he is in “real life” — like with all great performers, he just turns the volume up once he’s under the lights.

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration. It’s all me, in the sense that, I mean, I’ll take positions just to be silly or ridiculous. Most of what you’re seeing is how I really feel, or what I really want to say. So it’s me, it’s just a bit of an exaggeration.”

As Norton adjusted to his audience, audiences all over the country adjusted to him, with regular television appearances and his consistent gig on the “Opie & Anthony” radio show bolstering his visibility.

Norton said the gig on “Opie & Anthony” is a natural fit for all involved.

While his brashly opinionated views have occasionally gotten him into heated discussions with guests — most notably a certain former governor of Minnesota — Norton insists that he never attacks meek opponents.

“The Jesse Ventura interview, I was very happy with that argument. But I don’t pick on weak targets. If I argue with somebody, there’s gonna be a real reason for it. I don’t bully people in the studio.”

Just like last year, Norton will be filming another stand-up special very shortly — at the end of March, to be exact. But this time, Toledo crowds will get the chance to experience this new material firsthand, well before the rest of the country gets to see it on their television screens.

“I have over an hour of new material. You wanna say a ‘work in progress,’ but stand-up always is a work in progress, honestly. But with this hour, some of the topical stuff I might shorten a little bit, but I’m very happy with this hour.”

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COMEDY

‘SNL’ alum Jim Breuer coming to Fat Fish Blue March 8-9

The last time Jim Breuer was in Toledo, he was working on a set of material for a new comedy special being filmed shortly after his Glass City appearance. Now, that special is recorded and ready for distribution. So, what’s Breuer working on this time? Another new special, of course.

“The one that’s filmed comes out this spring — it’ll come out on [premium cable channel] Epix and Netflix,” Breuer said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star. “So this one I’m working on a whole [new show]. Just started last week and this has got a lot of new material that no one has ever seen before.”

There’s no rest for the seasoned comic. The veteran of “Saturday Night Live,” “Half Baked” and more clearly does not believe in resting on his laurels as he prepares to play the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg on March 8 and 9. He said that developing new material can be a little nerve-racking — but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s a little spooky at first, but I freaking love it. Last week in San Jose, [Calif.], I did pretty much a whole new hour and got a standing O. I was so freaking excited. Because, you know, I have all the material to fall back on, just in case. When I’m doing all the newer stuff, I’ll give them all the other stuff they still haven’t seen yet.

“And I’m pretty confident, too,” Breuer added. “Nobody’s seen all the stuff that I’ve already put on film that hasn’t been released yet. So I’m already locked and loaded with an hour and a half, two hours of playing material.”

Breuer also has another advantage — a seemingly effortless connection to area audiences, exemplified by the tremendous response he’s gotten with each trip through the Glass City.

“For one thing, I consider that area kinda blue-collar, and I relate really well to blue-collar. I grew up like that, my dad grew up in that area,” he said. “So I think that just the blue-collar mentality of how that area grew up, I can relate to it really well.”

In addition to the pressure of developing new material, there’s another facet of Breuer’s new direction. While for years the comic played for a largely adult audience with a more mature set of material, in recent years he’s toned down his act into something a little more family-friendly — a shift that is beginning to pay dividends in the makeup of his audiences.

“I’m starting to see multigenerations showing up. And it’s probably the best stand-up I’ve ever had, hands down. In the past, I was really just trying to — I don’t wanna say ‘shock’ ‘em, but really trying to appease the audience. Well, now, I’m appeasing myself and not trying to appease an audience to just be funny in general. Where now, I think I hit every demographic.”

Many audiences are familiar with Breuer from his most famous gigs, though, most significantly his three-year run as a cast member on NBC institution “Saturday Night Live.” Still, if you ask the man himself, he is much happier being in control of who and what he is onstage every night nowadays.

“‘SNL’ is a different beast. You gotta do characters, and you’re trying to appease an audience. You’re in a certain mold, you’re forced to be in a certain mold. Stand-up, I’m a free entity. I get to go far and wide and do what I want. I’m not edited, and I’m not trying to be a character or do a specific type of comedy.”

That joy of freedom extends now to the way his specials are distributed in the age of streaming video. “In the past, we were kinda pigeonholed with Comedy Central and HBO, or [another] cable network. And the big problem with that is, once they air it, you gotta hope they air it enough times for people to see it, and you’re really only looking at a one-month run of certain times.

“So when Netflix came, I thought this was a perfect match, because I don’t fit on Comedy Central. Their audience is really young boys. Young, like, juvenile-type boys. My audience has broadened. So you’ll be able to watch me at any time. You can download me at 10 am, you can watch me in front of your family … I like that I have that kind of full access now. I like that I don’t have a network going, ‘He’s on at 1 a.m.’ I mean, what kind of parents are up at 1 a.m. to watch me, when they’re my target audience?”

He hasn’t forsaken cable entirely, though — Breuer is also working on a pilot for VH1, as well as a complete revamp of his website. But don’t expect the ever-busy Breuer to completely embrace social networking just yet.

“The tweeting’s not gonna get people in the club. It’s nice for publicity or whatever, but my wheelhouse is onstage. When I’m home, I’m home. I’m a father, I’m also a son with an elderly father who lives with me. I don’t have time to try and be funny all the time. There’s a human side to everyone. I really don’t have that energy that I feel like I need to be on 24/7.”

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Comics

Comedian Finesse Mitchell comes back to Toledo

Finesse Mitchell is happy to be back in Toledo, though he isn’t used to seeing the area quite this way.

“They’re always big crowds. They’re always diverse,” Mitchell said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. “And they always come out in the snow. It’s the first time I’ve been here there’s not snow on the ground. I’m very shocked.”

The veteran comic makes his return to the Glass City for four nights starting Jan. 17 at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg. And while he may not be used to the somewhat mild winter Toledo is experiencing, he’s more than comfortable performing on its stage.

“I think for me the coming to the stage part is where I get the most nervous,” he said. “‘You’ve seen him from this show or that show,’ so that’s when I get it. Then, when I get onstage, everything falls into place. As soon as I get my first laugh.

“I think new people get overconfident walking to the stage, and then when they get onstage and look out, that’s when they get nervous. So it’s probably for the best for me.”

Mitchell

Mitchell began his comedic career back in college while attending the University of Miami in Florida. As his experience and poise grew, he said, so too did his ability to think on his feet.

“For me, the timing is 1,000 times stronger. Quick wit is 1,000 times faster,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll be doing a half-hour onstage and not be doing any rehearsed material, then after about 25 minutes I’ll realize, ‘Oh, ****, I only have about 30 more minutes, I better start doing some jokes.

“And I think that’s the biggest difference — the confidence that you have,” Mitchell said. “Just ad-libbing, and it’s, like, comedy gold, and you’ll never be able to repeat it again in your life because you weren’t recording. And you won’t remember it.”

While many of his fellow comedians may look at their audience as an adversary — or perhaps an opponent to be beaten — Mitchell said that he prefers to work with his crowds to have a great time together.

“I see them as somebody who we’ve all shown up to a party together. And I’m the first person speaking, but then when it’s over, nobody else speaks, so I feel like I’ve been tricked. Like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m the party!’

“Sometimes when I come offstage I’m like, ‘Who’s next? Who’s gonna entertain me? Somebody go up there and sing or something, for all the work I did.’”

Of course, Mitchell’s notoriety doesn’t only come from his work in clubs. He also has a wide variety of experience on film and in television, though as he points out, there is clearly a wide difference between working on stage and on film.

“If somebody hires you to do a show or a movie, you wanna give them what they’re paying you for. And then when it comes to stand-up, that’s moreso your show. That’s more about the reputation that you’re leaving behind and the impression that you’re leaving behind, and your name. It’s like, I wanna make more fans.”

Many of Mitchell’s fans come from his time as a regular on NBC late-night institution “Saturday Night Live,” where he performed from 2003 until 2006.

“It’s pressure, because not only do you have to perform, you have to come up with something to perform,” Mitchell said of his time on “SNL.” “You have to actually help develop that script, so that was always a lot of pressure. And, like, now that I’m on this Disney show, I enjoy showing up to work and reading the script, and the pressure’s on the writers to write something funny.”

The Disney show is the hit series “A.N.T. Farm,” now in its third season, in which Mitchell has a recurring role.

“I love it, man. I’m sexy to every single mom out there,” Mitchell joked. “It’s fun to be on a hit show where the demographic is so large, only because, from movie executives to television executives to middle-class America, from bridge to port, everybody has kids. And everybody has to put their kids in front of a television to entertain ’em. And every now and then, adults will sit down and say, ‘What are you watching?’ And then when they get hooked, they end up watching it, too.

“It’s a brand-new fanbase, I love it, and it’s our third season, and it’s going up.”

As a result of the constant exposure on Disney — which reruns episodes of its sitcom productions ad nauseam —Mitchell said he gets recognized more than he ever has before.

“Everybody my age has kids, so all my friends are like, ‘Dude, I watch you all the time now, because my kids are watching you.’”

Mitchell will also tour this year as part of the Shaquille O’Neal All-Star Comedy Jam, including a stop in Houston during the NBA All-Star weekend. And as far as the future, Mitchell said he has designs on an expanded career in film and television.

“Everything happens when you’re hot. ‘SNL,’ I was hot. Couple of movies after that, made some money, I was hot. And then it goes away. And then I wrote a book, and then I was hot again. On all the talk shows, the ‘Today’ show, and ‘Tyra,’ and then it went away again. And then I came out to LA, and then I booked the Disney show, and the next thing you know, I’m hot again.”

‘Nephew Tommy’ makes Toledo debut

When comedian Tommy Miles makes his trip to Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg from Dec. 28-30, it may be his first appearance in the Toledo area, but it is safe to say his reputation precedes him.

Fans of Steve Harvey’s nationally syndicated morning radio show know him well as co-host “Nephew Tommy.” It’s clear he doesn’t resent the ever-present connection to his famous uncle or his role on the show. Heck, he even refers to himself as Nephew Tommy.

“I have a built-in audience now, because they’re hearing me every morning on the radio,” Miles said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star. “Radio is very helpful for stand-up, because I’m on the radio Monday through Friday every morning for four hours. And there is no script — what Steve and I do every morning is not scripted. We’re just two crazy knuckleheads talking smack and we got people cracking up on the way to work in the morning.”

Even as he begins to make strides in the entertainment world outside of his role on the radio show, Tommy acknowledges that there’s always that unspoken association with Uncle Steve. “You’re gonna always get a comparison. That’s normal,” he said. “You’re gonna always get ‘You’re better than him,’ or ‘He’s better than you,’ or ‘You guys are similar.’ You’re gonna always get that. So I try my best to always have my own set of fingerprints, my own identity, and you see us differently.”

Tommy’s own path in comedy began in the early 1990s, spurred on by a college dare. “I started out doing theater, theater was my major in school. And jumping into the stand-up game was actually a bet with some friends, saying ‘Hey, why don’t you go to this amateur night?’ This was back in the early ’90s. And I said, ‘I don’t do stand-up, I’m an actor. That’s not what I do.’ And I go out and try my hand at it, and won this amateur night down in Houston, Texas. And from that point on, 1990, I’ve been telling jokes.”

His onstage persona and confidence grew by leaps and bounds, along with his abilities as a headliner. “When I first started, I just wanted to be able to do three to five minutes, and be funny for three to five minutes. And that was a task when you’re first starting out — trying to get the rhythm of it, get your punch lines and make sure they’re powerful enough.

“And to try to master five minutes, that was the thing back then. Now it’s evolved to doing well over an hour,” Tommy said. “So I’ve come a long way. I’m more relaxed onstage; I’m comfortable. It’s like a way of life now. I’m just up there having fun at this point.”

Tommy gives a great deal of the credit for his stand-up ability to his collegiate theatrical training. “You can rest assured, at least twice or maybe even three times a year we were gonna be doing a Shakespearean play. So you had to have a dedication to the craft, you had to have a dedication to the character that you were gonna be doing. If you weren’t in the show, if you were a stage manager, if you were in wardrobe, if you were in lighting — whatever you were doing, you had to be committed to it.

“Fortunately, I was a pretty good talent, and I was always onstage. So if you bring your form to prank calls, bringing it to radio, bringing it to stand-up — it all goes back to the training block of where I come from.”

Miles will be getting the chance to stretch those theatrical muscles a bit in the months to come — beginning in February he’ll be touring in a production of the play “Finding First Lady” that he will produce, direct and star in. He also has roles in a few feature films coming up, including a part in “Baggage Claim” with “Precious” star Paula Patton.

“And my uncle has got some surprises for me that he’s been trying to network for me, since he’s gotten into the television world, so we’ll see what he comes up with. But I think that my future looks good.”